Golden
by Pilla Jeffrey
Summary: Harry and Karl go shopping on Valentine's Day.


TITLE: Golden  
AUTHOR: Pilla Jeffrey  
CATEGORY: Angst, Drama, Missing Scene/Epilogue, Thoughts, Romance  
PAIRING: Harry/Karen, Harry/Mia, Karl/Sarah, Karl/Mia  
SPOILERS: Hopefully you've seen the movie…  
RATING: PG  
CONTENT WARNINGS: none of any particular note  
SUMMARY: Harry and Karl go shopping on Valentine's Day.  
STATUS: Complete  
ARCHIVE: anywhere else, ask.  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Love Actually_. Or Colin Firth. And I will rue the day until I do.  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I can't believe Alan Rickman almost cheated on Emma Thompson. Mia is kinda slimy. And, on a further note, I think that if Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson were really siblings, they'd rule the world..

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**Golden**

Men did not shop. Harry had been told this since his youth—or, if he hadn't been told it, he had experienced it in the countless hours he had been dragged to Piccadilly Circus with his mother and sisters. Men, also, did not ask other men to go shopping with them. That was simply imprinted on every man's genes. Well, every man except, it seems, for Karl.

Karl was an attractive, late twenty-something who was the office heartthrob. It was obvious that he would have to be shopping for Valentine's Day for some woman. What was strange was that Karl had asked Harry to help him. Help him shop. For Valentine's Day.

Harry supposed it was a good thing to be forced to shop. Karen deserved something lavish, something glorious. He had been a stupid old coot for thinking that Mia—his secretary!—was worth two hundred pounds that he could be spending on Karen, the love of his life and the mother of his two children. He had been ridiculous for letting his inflated ego drive his decisions. Sure, a striking, youthful woman was attracted to him. That was no excuse for tiptoeing around Karen's back. For putting a strain on their marriage that he wished would disappear.

Karl pulled him into a jewelry store. "Okay. Pick out something."

Harry gawked at the boy. "Me? Pick out something?" He weakly chuckled. "I'm sure you're much more aware of what's in now."

Harry found his awkward laugh mimicked by Karl. "Well, uh, I think you know her tastes better. She said you would."

"Who said I would? Sarah?"

Another uncomfortable laugh. "Uh, no. Sarah and I…we didn't work out. She had…other commitments."

"Ah." He knew this too well. Sarah had told him about her complicated relationship with her brother when he hired her. And, after some prodding, Sarah had told him about how her relationship with Karl had fallen into failure. "Then who?"

"Mia."

Harry's heart stopped. He felt like he had choked on a sickening piece of crab cake that went down the wrong shoot. "M-Mia said that, did she?"

Karl immediately seemed to know that the shopping had been a bad idea. "Um, I mean…apparently…Well, she said you had great taste."

"You're dating _Mia_?" Jealousy, confusion. Well, she had certainly moved on quickly enough, leaving him in the shambles of a once-perfectly fine marriage.

"Uh, yeah. For about a month now." Karl cleared his throat. "So, what do you think she'll like?"

This was not happening. This was not what he needed right now. "Karl, I don't think I'm the right one to help you."

"Sure." Karl frowned slightly. "Just one thing: silver or gold?"

"Gold." No hesitation. He hated himself.

"Well, thanks. That does help." Karl went back to examining jewelry cases.

Harry was being overcome with guilty anger. What was wrong with Karl? How insensitive. This young thing had no idea about love, lust, and what the two could do to the relationships that truly mattered. He had no sense of commitment. When the going got tough, he went. He had left Sarah in the company of her mentally handicapped brother without trying to work around it.

And in that moment, Harry realized how teenage and immature his actions had been last Christmas. Sure, he and Karen weren't as fiery and…_active_, well, in the bedroom. But to abandon her when she was sewing lobster costumes until two in the morning, to abandon her because he wasn't getting what he wanted, was stupid.

Karl still looked closely through the glass, eyeing the elaborate gold necklaces and earrings and bracelets. So stupid he was. "Um, Karl?"

"Yes?"

He couldn't tell him this. He couldn't tell a man like Karl to stick with the people that matter and that the high road was the most rewarding one. But he could help in the little ways on the way to the eventual discovery. "Just some advice…Don't wear tight black underwear. It's more questionable than attractive."

And with that, Harry left the dumbfounded Karl alone with a gold trinket on a chain.

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